The United States and Japan will step up their defence cooperation to deal with the threat from nuclear-armed North Korea as tensions in East Asia remain high, officials from the two allies said on Thursday.

UK urged to follow Australia on cig packs

A leading cancer charity is calling on the British government to follow Australia's lead and introduce plain cigarette packs.

The calls come after a Cancer Research UK-funded study found youngsters preferred novelty packaging from leading cigarette manufacturers to plain packs.

The research also suggests glamorous cigarette packaging tempts young people who have never smoked to take up the habit.

"The UK must follow the lead of Australia and introduce plain, standardised packs as soon as possible," said Professor Gerard Hastings, Cancer Research UK's social marketing expert at the University of Stirling.

"This research continues to build the case to protect vulnerable children from the might of the tobacco industry's marketing," he added.

The new research, published in the journal BMJ Open, examined the reactions of 1025 UK children aged 11 to 16 who had never tried smoking.

They were given three different types of cigarette packs: regular, novelty and plain, standardised packs.

Novelty packs included those with an unusual shape, colour or system of opening, while standardised packs were brown with all branding removed apart from a brand name.

Researchers found that children preferred the colourful and novelty packs from leading manufacturers.

They included Silk Cut Superslim's slim pack shape, the Marlborough Bright Leaf pack which opens at the side in the style of a Zippo lighter, and Pall Mall's bright pink pack.

Children who liked these packs were the same children who said they were more tempted to smoke, the study also found.

In contrast, plain, standardised packaging reduced the appeal of smoking to the youngsters.

"The urge the Government to introduce plain, standardised tobacco packaging to reduce the number of young people who take up smoking," said Dr Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK's chief executive.

In July, the UK Government denied claims it had caved in to the tobacco industry after it put plans to introduce plain cigarette packaging on hold.

A decision has been delayed so more time could be spent examining how similar plans were working in Australia.